A quick tour of Barcelona

Although we were only in Barcelona for 2 days we still managed to do and see a lot of the sights.  Our bed and breakfast was really nice and, again, in a great location for being able to get to the things we wanted to see.  This included:

A giant Calzone

The Sacred Family – by Gaudi

Olympic Park (where the ’92 Olympics were held)

The beach (and it was packed)

Gaudi Architecture (which I thought were really cool but Travis thought looked like cartoons – which they did) in the park he built.

And a view of the city.... from a gondola ride!

........And a lot of walking.  As we were walking, I saw a stadium on the map that I thought would be cool to see.   Once there we realized it was a bullfighting stadium and there happened to be a fight that night.  We figured that we would get tickets (although I was reluctant) to experience some Spanish culture and history.  I initially considered not mentioning that we had gone to a bull fight but after going, I wanted to write about the experience and let everyone know that I will never, EVER, go again (caution rant to follow).

After arriving in the stadium, the three bullfighters entered the ring on their horses (I did not realize they fought on horses – instead I thought they ran around the ring with red blankets).  While on their horses, they did a lot of tricks (I’m sure Reba and Jane would have appreciated how talented the horses were).  Then it was time for the fight.  Well, when the first bull came out, I was already feeling a bit ill over the whole thing.  There is a lot of fancy horse work and then (as you all know) multiple small daggers – some with flags, some without – get stabbed into its back.  At the very end a LONG dagger is stabbed into him and everyone watches him die (and its not a happy rainbow kind of death if you know what I mean)  

At this point, most people stand and cheer and the bullfighter dismounts from his horse (some of which get hurt – we saw the sutures of a pretty big laceration on one horse)  while others (me) look at Travis in horror, start to cry and tell him that I’m leaving immediately. 

While I understand that this is tradition deeply entrenched in Spanish history, I cannot fathom while people would want to watch an animal suffer like this.  Nonetheless, the stadium had hundreds of people in it who continued to watch as bull, after bull (yes – again another misconception – I thought there was one, but nope – there was SIX!) are killed. 

So to sum up, Travis watched a few more rounds while I wandered around the stadium.  It was interesting to note that the bulls were immediately taken to the back where they were butchered and where one of the butchers told me he’d sell me a horn for 10Euro.  At this point I wasn’t impressed by any of it and was tempted to beat him with it. 

So, not to be a buzzkill, but bullfighting is not for me.  I seriously hope they consider banning the sport (if you can call it that); however, I do suppose I should have known better for going when the first thing we saw on the way in was protesters across the street covered in red paint blowing whistles and holding signs. (I admit after fight one I would have blown whistles with them if I had had one!).... Anyways...

 Barcelona otherwise was amazing – we definitely wish we could have stayed longer but we covered a lot of ground (my feet are one big blister).  We are now off to Nice, France (and Monaco so Travis can visit the Monte Carlo casino)….. Au revoir!